Late Punjabi singer and rapper Sidhu Moose Wala’s song titled SYL, which was posthumously released on his YouTube channel at 6 pm on June 23, turned out to be a massive hit instantaneously. Within one hour of its release the song hit one million views on YouTube. The song has registered over 1.73 million views in less than 24 hours.

The song, composed, written and sung by Sidhu Moose Wala, was recorded a few weeks before he was shot dead in Jawaharke village in Punjab’s Mansa district on May 29. Reports have claimed that a number of songs by the slain rapper will be released simultaneously in the coming months.

What does the song talk about?

The title SYL stands for Sutlej Yamuna link. The song speaks about a number of issues like water dispute, 1984 Sikh riots, undivided Punjab, Sikh prisoners and even the Sikh flag hoisting at the Red Fort during the farmer agitation earlier this year.

The song starts with the statement of Shushil Gupta, a Rajya Sabha member of the Aam Aadmi Party, in which he says his party that recently formed the government in Punjab will win elections in Haryana in 2024 and the following year there will be water in every farm in Haryana. “This is not our promise but our guarantee,” Gupta said.

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Following the statement, the song talks about the water dispute between the states. The song says people of Punjab can be won over with love, but they will not bow before anyone.

In the song, Moose Wala refers to Balwinder Jattana, who is hailed as a ‘Sikh Liberation Hero’ by many people. Jatana had shot dead two officers in Chandigarh in July 1990. Following the incident, construction work on the Sutlej-Yamuna link canal project was stopped in Punjab.

The song also features pictures of Sikh militants like Davinder Pal Bhullar, Lakhwinder Singh, Gurdeep Singh Khaira and Jagtar Singh Tara.

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Prior to his death, Moose Wala was planning to shoot the visuals for the song with video producer Stalinveer. “He wanted to release the song on the eve of June 6 (Operation Blue Star anniversary) as the song is related to the last 70-year history of Punjab and Satluj-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal,” Stalinveer told the Indian Express.

After the death of the popular singer, his team had requested all the music composers and producers to hand over Moose Wala’s unfinished work to his family. Now, the first song from the un-released work of Moose Wala has been released and his father Balkaur Singh will decide what to do with his songs pending for release.

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First Published:Jun 24, 2022 5:55 PM IST